20: Why stress hormones are high at night (and how to lower them so you can sleep!)

Episode Transcript:

Welcome to the Why You Can't Sleep podcast. If you struggle to sleep and you've tried what seems like everything you are in the right place, there are imbalances in your body that are keeping you awake and you're going to learn what they are in this show. Now let's kick off this episode with an inspiring success story from one of my clients who has significantly approved their sleep by correcting the underlying health issues that were causing their insomnia.

Andrey (Client): "I mean, I'm not a hundred percent with everything, but I couldn't imagine that I was going to feel like this, honestly."

Martha: "Yeah. Well that's great. So do you remember what the test results showed for you?"

Andrey (Client): "I mean, yeah, the cortisol was elevated when it wasn't supposed to be. We in the Dutch, we did a mold test for my house and dad came back elevated. I had a previous stool test done somewhere else, which you accepted and the dad was off. It's a whole slew of things that conventional medicine doesn't even test for, which is crazy to me."

Hello everyone. Welcome to another episode. Today I am talking about why stress hormones are high at night and how to lower them. And this is so important because if your body's releasing cortisol or adrenaline at night, it's going to be impossible to sleep. So I'm sure you're aware that cortisol is one of our stress hormones. It's also the hormone that wakes us up in the morning and keeps us alert throughout the day and it helps us respond to stress. So there are times when we do want cortisol to be high, but it should be low at night so that we can sleep because cortisol gives us energy, it helps us focus and concentrate. It raises our heart rate and blood pressure and body temperature. So it puts us into a stress state, which is not what we want if we're trying to sleep. So first of all, I want to talk about why cortisol can be high at night and what you can do about it.

And I also want to mention that sometimes I have clients who have very low cortisol overall, and what happens actually is that then the body has to resort to adrenaline or otherwise called epinephrine instead, which causes that stress response to be even more. That makes us wired, gives us more energy, can make us feel anxious. So definitely not what we want to be happening at night. So even low cortisol can lead to these high other stress hormones which can wake you up. So it's not always just about cortisol, but in the majority of my clients I do see that cortisol is high at night. And so let's talk about why that can happen. Now. First of all, cortisol can be high at bedtime as you're trying to fall asleep. So that can be from mental stress from not taking the time to wind down at night for sure, even watching something stressful on TV that definitely can get to me.

And also being exposed to blue light at night is going to tell your body that it's daytime, and so it's going to keep releasing cortisol. It's also going to suppress melatonin. So yes, light has something to do with it, but there are also other physical imbalances that can lead to high cortisol at night. So a common one is low blood sugar. So whenever your blood sugar drops too low, then your body releases cortisol because then that gives your body energy. Cortisol causes glucose to be released into your cells, so it gives you energy. So your body's always trying to stay in balance with everything including blood sugar. Now, food sensitivities. So if you're eating something for dinner that you don't realize that you're sensitive to, then that can also lead to your body releasing cortisol because those foods cause inflammation in the body. And cortisol is also an anti-inflammatory hormone.

Now, poor macronutrient balance. So that means which can also lead to blood sugar imbalance. So that means the balance of fat, protein and carbohydrates that you're eating. So if you eat too many carbs for example, then your body wants and that's going to raise your blood sugar and then your blood sugar's going to crash. And so it can lead to these hormone and cortisol imbalances as well. So that's why one of the things that we help our clients with is finding their ideal diet, their ideal macronutrient balance because it's different for everyone. Not everyone needs to be low carb, for example, or keto. We're all metabolically different now. Cortisol can also be high in the middle of the night, and this is super common as well. I see in my client's test results, and this was the case for me too. So again, low blood sugar can be a cause of this and this is happening if your blood sugar is on an extreme roller coaster all day, that's going to continue into the night.

And I have other episodes about blood sugar that I will link to in the show notes so that you can see that if you think that this could be an issue for you. Also, liver detox issues. So our liver is most active at night and that's when it is trying to detoxify all the toxins in our body. And if it has more toxins than it can handle, then those toxins circulate around. They cause all this inflammation. Your body releases cortisol, you're going to be awake. And the most common thing that I see in my clients, especially if you're waking up at three or 4:00 AM like clockwork every night, then you could have a pathogen in your gut. So that could be a parasite, it could be that bad bacterial overgrowth, it could be a yeast like candida. For me, I did have a parasite that I probably had for many years from traveling in Nepal and India and my cortisol was so high in the middle of the night, higher than it was the rest of the day.

So it totally explained why I wasn't sleeping. How these pathogens affect things at night is because they're nocturnal, so they're most active then and they release all these toxins, which puts an extra burden on your liver and causes a ton of inflammation. Then your body releases cortisol to deal with the inflammation and it's going to be impossible to sleep. So those are the most common reasons for cortisol being high in the middle of the night. And I also want to mention that these high stress hormones at night, whether it's cortisol or adrenaline, they can cause that night owl kind of syndrome. And so there are different chronotypes out there and some people are more early birds, some people are more night owls, and then most people are in the middle. But for people who don't get tired until 12 1 2 in the morning, it can be because the body's releasing these stress hormones and it's keeping you wired low.

Serotonin can also cause this extreme NightOwl phenomenon as well. And if you feel like you get a second wind at night, like say you're tired during most of the day or you're super tired in the afternoon and then it's like you feel wired come 8, 9, 10 pm then that's probably because your body's releasing cortisol or other stress hormones. Now the thing is we need to find out why cortisol is high and address those things to lower it. So again, listen to the episodes blood sugar to see if that could be an issue for you. And I talk about how to test for that and be able to tell, and even if you've had blood work, what you're looking for there, I run what's called a DUTCH test, which is a dried urine hormone test that looks at your cortisol pattern and it also shows sex hormones and how those hormones are being broken down by your body, especially by your liver.

So then I can see which parts of liver detoxification might need some support. The GI map, which is the test to use for gut health also has a measure for one kind of liver detox as well. And then the GI map is what I use to look for pathogens. So it's looking for what's living in your gut, looking for parasites and all different kinds of bacteria and candida as well. So those are the tests that help me determine what's going on, why cortisol is high at night because you can take a supplement to lower cortisol, but you don't want to do that without testing. And one benefit of the Dutch test is because it shows two different kinds of cortisol. It shows how much your body is making and it shows how much is sticking around or available to be used by the body, and those numbers should be the same, but a lot of times they aren't.

And so I see all the time clients who their bodies aren't making a lot of cortisol, but it's sticking around. So it is higher at night and it's high overall, but if someone isn't making a lot of cortisol, they shouldn't be taking a supplement to lower it, that's just going to lower it even more. Instead, we need to find out why cortisol is high and address those things until you don't want to artificially lower cortisol with the supplement for long because it's there for a reason. It's actually protecting your body and helping it deal with inflammation. So sometimes for my clients, I do recommend a supplement to lower cortisol. If it's super high at night and they're making a ton of cortisol and a lot of it's sticking around, then that is one case where I do recommend it, but I do it for usually three months max while we are addressing, okay, why is cortisol high at night?

So those are some of the reasons why cortisol can be high at night. I also want to mention a little bit about genes. And there are a couple genes that when they are acting up or acting dirty that they also affect our stress hormones and they make them stick around longer in the body. They don't clear them quickly enough. Now, I do want to point out first, and I've done an episode about this as well, that genes are not our destiny. So just because you have certain genetic snips or mutations doesn't mean that you're destined for those to act out so much about our lifestyle and our environment determines whether those genes turn on or off. And so I find it actually more helpful to instead of testing for genetics, you can again find that you have all these gene SNPs or mutations, but if they aren't acting up, it doesn't matter.

Not everyone with the M-T-H-F-R gene for example, needs to go on methylated B vitamins. If they don't have any symptoms of that gene acting dirty, then they don't. There's no reason to supplement. And so I use an assessment when people sign up for my program that's looking at what genes are acting up. So then we actually know what to address. So again, there are these two genes. One is called the comp gene. When this is acting slow, then it causes certain compounds to be metabolized too slowly. In this case, estrogen, dopamine, norepinephrine, and epinephrine stay too long in the body. Now again, epinephrine, we used to call adrenaline norepinephrine, noradrenaline. So these are our stress hormones as well. So if their body isn't clearing it quickly enough during the day, then they can be too high at night and make it really hard to sleep.

There's another gene called the MAO gene, the MAOA, which can cause an excess of dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin, which are going to affect our mood and alertness and energy and even vulnerability to addictions and our sleep. So different imbalances in the body can lead to these genes acting slow.

So for example, the slow comp gene can be from low levels of Sam. E homocysteine levels aren't balanced. It can be from too much coffee, caffeine, chocolate or tea. It can be from being overweight or obese, from being exposed to environmental estrogens from not enough folate, vitamin B12 or magnesium, or if the M-T-H-F-R gene is acting up. Now, mal can become slow for other reasons from too much tryptophan, for example, from not enough vitamin B two, from not enough glutathione, from feeling chronically stressed and overwhelmed from blood sugar imbalance, also from gut issues such as candida or sibo, which is small intestinal bacterial overgrowth or a leaky gut or a poor diet or even autoimmunity.

So if these genes are acting up and these stress hormones aren't being cleared quickly enough from your body, then there are some things you can do to help with this. And this has made a big difference for quite a few of my clients and for myself as well. So you really want to allow time to recover from stressful situations. So find what's working for you to calm down, whether it's walking away, doing breathing exercises, going for a walk, whatever it is, it's giving your body a chance to calm down from stress. You also want to do stimulating activities such as exercise, gaming, dancing earlier in the day and more calming ones in the evening. You want to practice calming activities every day. So hiking, meditating, playing, laughing, listening to music. You also want to work hard but also play hard. So you want to balance over work with vacations and relaxation.

So whether that's massage, Epsom, salt, bath, saunas, et cetera, and you want to identify stressors and remove as many as you can, especially at night. So watching the news at night is not a good time Watching a stressful TV show or movie, you don't want to be doing that right before bed. If certain friends or family stress you out, then try not to hang around them as much. If commuting or chores or something like that stresses you out, see what you can do to change those things. You also want to always minimize toxins by eating organic and using clean personal care products, drinking really good filtered water, et cetera. Supporting your liver can also be really important, and when these genes are acting slow, then medications might adversely affect you. So for example, if your comped gene is acting slow, then you might notice that meds for A DHD or SSRIs for depression or thyroid meds really affect you and actually stimulate you too much.

Same with steroids or the supplement tyrosine or methyl folate and also bioidentical estrogen hormones and estrogen birth control. Now if your mouth is acting slow, then they found that SSRIs can cause headaches, irritability, or insomnia, so it can have the opposite effect that you might want. Testosterone can increase aggression, tyrosine and thyroid medication can also make this gene more slow and tryptophan five HTP and melatonin as well. So a lot of things that are recommended for better sleep, they aren't better, they aren't good for everyone, like everything out there, there's not one supplement that's going to help everyone. That's good for everyone because we are all different. So you really want to figure out use testing and assessments to figure out what's going on in your body as you've been learning from this podcast. The way to sleep better is to find the imbalances in your body that are keeping you awake.

I created the Insomnia Insight Program so you'll know what these imbalances are and have a plan to fix them in just 30 days. In the Insomnia Insight Program, my team and I use four functional lab tests as well as assessments to look for everything that could be affecting your sleep so we don't miss anything. Then we will give you a personalized, holistic 90 day plan to get your body back in balance so you can get the deep sleep that you want. You'll know exactly which supplements and habits your body needs. No more trying to find the magic pill or following advice you find online that just doesn't work for you. You'll also get support for six months with weekly live coaching calls and daily chat messaging to get all of your questions answered. This will ensure your plan is successful so your sleep keeps improving.

You'll also have access to valuable trainings such as Smart Sleeper Habits where you'll learn evidence-based habits that will help you sleep more peacefully. You'll learn smart sleep are essential so you can fall asleep fast and stop the 3:00 AM. Wake up by finding the perfect diet for your body and by balancing your blood sugar and the Smart Sleeper mindset will help you get rid of negative thoughts and anxiety about sleep so that your mind doesn't sabotage you. The program also includes bonuses such as how to get out a fight or flight and calm your nervous system, how to minimize toxins and support your liver, how to make changing habits easier. Also, that you can restore your health and sleep deeply. There will also be challenges so you stay motivated to follow your protocol and to celebrate as your sleep keeps improving. There will be monthly bonus trainings to further improve your health mindset and sleep.

There will also be customized case reviews available. So if your sleep hasn't improved in three months, you can submit a case review where we will review your results and plan and tell you exactly what to do next to make sure you're successful in the program. And if you sign up from this podcast, you can get a special bonus, a customized Sleep Jumpstart plan. We will give you top three action steps to improve your sleep right away as soon as you sign up while we're waiting for your test results. The investment for the Insomnia Insight program is $2,500 plus the cost of the lab test, which are around a thousand dollars. There is financing available from advance care card.com. You can find out more about the program and sign up at the link in the show notes in the Insomnia Insight program. You'll know the imbalances that are causing your sleep issues, and you'll have a plan to fix them in just 30 days so that you can sleep better and make the difference you're meant to make in the world.

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